Tuesday’s big movers; rumors of new Google laptop

Monster Beverage stock rallies on Goldman Sachs report

GregMorcroft

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Shares of Corning Inc., Monster Beverage Corp. and Research In Motion Ltd. made big moves during U.S. trading Tuesday, with Google Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. among the top trending tickers.

Top tickers trending

$GOOG: Google
GOOG, +0.77%
shares gained 1.5%. Various tech blogs and news sites are citing a report out of Taiwan on Monday that indicates that Google is preparing to launch a self-branded Chromebook with a touch screen. Google already has placed an order with Compal, an original design manufacturer in Taiwan, for the new Chromebooks, TechCrunch reported.

“If this report is true — it’s at least logical for Google to cut out hardware partners and keep the razor-thin margins to itself — Google is getting ready to compete head-on with Apple, Nokia and even Microsoft. In the past Google relied on partners to make hardware. The goal was to push its software into the hands of users; Google didn’t seem to care about making money on the hardware. But times have changed. Android is the dominant mobile platform in the world now. The Nexus 7 is the best low-cost tablet available. And to the topic of Google Chrome OS, the recently launched Chromebooks are fantastic,” said Matt Burns at TechCrunch. Read: Google preparing to launch self-branded Chromebooks.

$AMZN: Online retailer Amazon.com
AMZN, +0.18%
drew chatter in the wake of one of the busiest shopping days of the year. The company said Tuesday that sales of its Kindle devices more than doubled over Black Friday weekend.

“We’re excited that customers made this Black Friday and Cyber Monday the best ever for Kindle worldwide — Cyber Monday was the biggest day ever for Kindle sales, and we’re looking forward to millions of customers opening a new Kindle this holiday season,” said Dave Limp, vice president of Amazon Kindle, in a statement. Amazon expected to pick up tablet share

@smendozag: $amzn goes positive, merry cyberchristmas

@ryan3261: I’m not a business strategist, but from my basic understanding of society’s reactions to change, Amazon should not make a smartphone. $AMZN

Gainers

Clean Diesel Technologies Inc.
CDTI, +2.64%
shares closed up 13%. The company said that it has received verification from the Environmental Protection Agency for its Purifilter EGR filter system, which removes particulate matter from diesel engines’ emissions.

Corning’s shares climbed 6.9%. The company
GLW, +1.19%
reported “stronger than forecasted” sales of LCD glass, which includes its popular Gorilla Glass product used in smartphones and tablets. “We now expect glass-market volume to be up in the low single digits this quarter, versus our previous expectation of down low to mid-single digits,” according to Corning.

Crocs Inc.
CROX, -4.24%
shares rose 9% as Goldman Sachs analysts upgraded their rating on the footwear company to buy.

Shares of Ralcorp Holdings
US:RAH
rallied 26%. ConAgra Foods Inc.
CAG, +1.55%
said it is buying Ralcorp, the nation’s largest private-label food manufacturer, for $90 a share in cash. The purchase price represents a 28% premium over the Monday closing price of Ralcorp shares. The companies said the deal, including assumed debt, is worth about $6.8 billion. Read: ConAgra buying Ralcorp in deal valued at $6.8 billion.

Monster Beverage Corp.
MNST, +2.41%
shares soared 13%. A recent Food and Drug Administration response to queries from lawmakers on the safety of energy drinks were mostly favorable to Monster, according to an analyst at Goldman Sachs.

“Our overall impression of the FDA letter would be that, at this point, the FDA has little reason to think energy drinks are unsafe when used in a responsible manner and to the extent energy drinks are used ‘inappropriately’ the FDA has no jurisdiction to take action against the manufacturer,” Goldman Sachs Judy Hong wrote in a note.

“That said, the FDA acknowledges there is more research to be done and is now actively looking into these issues. We continue to be believe the most likely outcome will be increased disclosure and strengthening labeling, which is unlikely to have a material financial impact on MNST.”

Decliners

Shares of McMoRan Exploration Co.
US:MMR
sank 15%. An RBC Capital Markets analyst downgraded his rating to sector perform from outperform. “We don’t currently have an answer as to whether MMR will ultimately be able to produce from the ultra-deep; the newest developments increase the general risk of the play,” Leo Mariani wrote in a report. The company opened the Davy Jones No. 1 well, located in the Gulf of Mexico, for testing earlier this month and reported a minimal flow rate, possibly due to clogged perforations, Mariani noted.

U.S.-listed shares of Research In Motion
US:RIMMCA:RIM
closed down 11%, following eight days of gains. Ehud Gelblum, an analyst at Morgan Stanley, suggested that RIM’s better-than-expected second-quarter earnings were an anomaly rather than the beginning of a trend, AllThingsD reported. Gelblum was also pessimistic about whether the BlackBerry 10 can help to turn the company around when it’s launched in January. Read: RIM’s revival likely to be short-lived

Thor Industries Inc.
THO, +3.02%
shares tumbled 12%. The manufacturer of recreation vehicles reported late Monday a first-quarter profit of 58 cents a share, shy of the 62-cent consensus forecast as derived in a poll of analysts by FactSet.

Providing critical information for the U.S. trading day. Subscribe to MarketWatch's free Need to Know newsletter. Sign up here.

Intraday Data provided by SIX Financial Information and subject to terms of use. Historical and current end-of-day data provided by SIX Financial Information. All quotes are in local exchange time. Real-time last sale data for U.S. stock quotes reflect trades reported through Nasdaq only. Intraday data delayed at least 15 minutes or per exchange requirements.